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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24997237">Take her out</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/themostneontwig/pseuds/themostneontwig'>themostneontwig</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Sonic the Hedgehog (Comics), Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW Comics), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>AU, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Found Family, I promise, Romance, basically an au i made based off of some predictions i made when tangle and whisper issue 0 came out, sorry if whisper is a bit ooc for the first few chapters, starts post battle for angel island but pre metal virus, there is a story reason for that</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 03:55:36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>9,146</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24997237</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/themostneontwig/pseuds/themostneontwig</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Tangle and Whisper visit a nice cafe in spiral hill, and Whisper makes an interesting phone call.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Claire Voyance/Whisper the wolf (Past), Tangle the Lemur/Whisper the Wolf</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Summer afternoon</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Whisper tapped her foot lightly on the ground, and checked her phone for any texts or calls. No sign of the bouncy lemur she was supposed to be meeting up with yet. Slightly impatient, she directed her attention to the window behind her, and glanced at her reflection. A white top with black stripes on the sleeves. Grey shorts. Black gloves and shoes. Her hair was tied up in a messy bun, though she had left some of it dangling in front of her face. Whisper wasn’t used to seeing herself look so casual, but it did help to ease some of her nerves. She blended in, she looked completely normal. Anyone passing by didn’t give her a second glance.</p><p>As it turned out, turning her back to look at the window had been a mistake, seeing as it had given the lemur in question the perfect chance to sneak up behind her, and greet her with a big hug.<br/>
“Hi Whisper! Sorry I’m late, I was so busy helping Jewel move some crates that I nearly forgot I was supposed to be seeing-” Tangle’s outburst was stopped when she noticed Whisper squirming uncomfortably in her arms. “Oh crap! I forgot, you like your personal space, don’t you?”<br/>
Looking slightly embarrassed, she took her arms away from Whisper, instead choosing to stuff them in the pockets of the yellow hoodie she was wearing. Tangle was dressed casually too, Whisper noted. So if she had to guess, she would’ve said that Tangle had been spending today in Spiral hill, as opposed to with the resistance.<br/>
“Hey, why the silent treatment? You aren’t mad that I’m late, are you?”<br/>
“Oh. No, I was just lost in thought.” Whisper paused before adding “Nice jacket.”<br/>
“Thanks, it was a birthday present,” Tangle grinned, absentmindedly playing with one of the strings on the hoodie “I was thinking we could go to a cafe today? Helping move crates and crates of gemstones is no easy feat sometimes!”<br/>
Whisper smiled warmly. “Suits me.”</p><p>Tangle began leading her companion down the street, chatting the whole way there. Whisper was only half listening, mainly because the lemur was talking at a million miles an hour, and was changing the topic at the most random times. So Whisper just nodded, pretending she was following along, until, out of nowhere, Tangle dropped a question.<br/>
“You know Whisper, it’s so cool that you wanna hang out with me n’ stuff, but like is there any reason it’s always Spiral hill? I’d love to visit your home at some point, you know, go see a new place, with an incredible tour guide to show me around, hmm?”<br/>
Whisper didn’t answer at first, prompting Tangle to add “The incredible tour guide would be you, by the way!”<br/>
Whisper was still thinking of how to answer the question. She didn’t want to say anything that sounded overly suspicious.<br/>
“I prefer your home over mine,” the wolf eventually answered. “It’s a lot more chilled out, which makes it a much nicer place to meet up.” Whisper silently hoped Tangle wouldn’t ask what it was that made Spiral hill a lot nicer than Whisper’s home, and, thankfully, she didn’t. </p><p>The talk on the rest of the way to the cafe descended back into Tangle’s random chattering, until eventually they arrived. The cafe was small, and very cozy looking. Sunlight streamed in through big glass windows, softly illuminating the tables and chairs. The walls were a soft yellow, bright enough to feel warm, but not so bright that they were an assault on the eyes. “I love this place,” Tangle confessed. “I’m really good friends with the owners, they make the best cakes! Did I mention they make all their own cakes and recipes?”<br/>
<em>“Is there<strong> anyone</strong> she’s not friends with?”</em> Whisper thought as they ordered the drinks. In some ways that was one of the things she admired about the hero, the way that she was so friendly and helpful. On the other hand, that made it very easy to win the lemur’s trust, something that Whisper secretly thought of as a bit of a weakness. Trust wasn’t something that should be given out so easily, she thought. </p><p>They took their seats at a table for two near a window, allowing a cool summer breeze to wash over them every now and again.<br/>
“So, how have you been? You still doing that job you told me about?” Tangle inquired.<br/>
Job? Oh, right.<br/>
“Yes, still working on helping the wisps after the war. Found out the doctor was using some to power his robots, looking into that right now.” Whisper replied, somewhat coolly, hoping Tangle wouldn’t ask too much more about it.<br/>
Luckily, that answer seemed to satisfy Tangle, who responded with “well if you ever need any help with that let me know! I love breaking Eggman’s tech!”<br/>
“How’s that been going?” Whisper questioned.<br/>
“Breaking the egghead’s robots? I’d say it’s been going pretty well lately. And working with the restoration’s pretty cool too, those guys are insanely talented!” Tangle looked down a bit, averting her gaze. “Sometimes I don’t think I can ever be as good as them.”<br/>
“I’m sure you can. You’ll have plenty of chances to prove yourself when you...do whatever the restoration is doing next.”<br/>
“Hmmm, next time? We’ll be off destroying factories where badniks and the like are produced. I guess I could be good at that!”<br/>
“I’m sure you will be. Don’t underestimate yourself.”<br/>
Those words seemed to perk Tangle up a lot. She sat up straighter and grinned, scrunching her hands up into determined fists. “You’re right! I need to have more faith in myself! And even if I’m not as good as everyone else, I’m still fighting for a good cause!”</p><p>Whisper smiled. Tangle’s determination and attitude made it impossible not to. The lemur’s nature was infectious, and endearing to Whisper. Endearing? She shook the thought away quickly. <em>“It’s not <strong>endearing</strong>,”</em> she corrected herself <em>“it’s just admirable.”</em><br/>
Endearing, what was she thinking? Hadn’t she specifically told herself she wasn’t going to get attached to the excitable bundle of energy sitting before her?</p><p>Whisper was snapped out of her thoughts by the sound of a waitress telling them to enjoy their food and drinks, and Tangle thanking her politely. Tangle claimed her own smoothie and cake off of the tray, before handing Whisper a cup of tea, and to the wolf’s surprise, a slice of chocolate cake. “I didn’t pay for this,” Whisper pointed out, gesturing to the cake.<br/>
“I know,” Tangle took a large swig of her smoothie. “I brought it for you!”<br/>
Hesitantly Whisper took a tiny bite.<br/>
“Go on!”, Tangle said, picking up and biting into her own cake. “There’s no trick, I promise! I just felt like if I was having some, then you should get some too!”<br/>
Whisper took a bigger bite out of the cake, getting a proper taste of it this time. The cake was rich with flavour, and filled in the middle with soft, gooey chocolate icing, melting in her mouth as she ate it. Tangle was right, the food here was good. Speaking of Tangle, she was currently polishing off her plate, by dragging her fingers through the crumbs, and then licking them off. Upon seeing that  Whisper had noticed her doing this, she grinned sheepishly. “Sorry, but this cake is just too good to resist!”<br/>
“It’s fine,” Whisper giggled, noticing how much of a mess Tangle was. It seemed the chocolate icing had gone everywhere but in her mouth.<br/>
“Hey, what’s so funny?” Tangle asked, apparently oblivious to the state her muzzle was in. Whisper silently pointed at her own mouth, prompting Tangle to wipe it with the back of her hand. Oh. Now she saw what was going on. Tangle grabbed a napkin, and wiped round her mouth. “Wow, I’m a mess, huh?” The hero’s tone was light, but it seemed like she was a tiny bit embarrassed by the state she was in. Whisper felt her smile stretching, until it faded into a frown. She was getting way too attached to Tangle. That wouldn’t do, her mind nagged, that simply wouldn’t do. She was just going to end up hurting herself. </p><p>“Something wrong?” Tangle asked, concerned. She’d spotted Whisper’s sudden shift in mood, and was confused by it. “Did I say something?”<br/>
“No. I just realised my tea’s probably getting cold,” Whisper invented an excuse quickly, and picked up her previously untouched tea cup, having a sip. Tangle looked as though she had a question, but didn’t ask it, returning to her own drink instead. </p><p>The afternoon slipped away quickly. Once Tangle had had the last drop of her drink, she slowly got to her feet. Whisper understood. The quiet wolf got up from her chair, and followed Tangle outside, where they both stood, both seeming slightly awkward.<br/>
“Well, thank you for this afternoon Whisper.”<br/>
“Thank you too. I had a lot of fun.”<br/>
“Yeah same! When do you want to hang out next?”<br/>
“I don’t know yet. We can text each other to find the next date.”<br/>
“Sounds good to me! See you around!”<br/>
“Good luck on your mission. See you soon,” Whisper began to head down the street, the opposite direction that Tangle was going. Once she was sure she was out of the lemur’s sight, she slipped into an alleyway behind the cafe, and pulled out her phone. </p><p>Whisper glanced around, making sure to double check she was alone, before typing in a number, and starting a phone call. The wolf noticed her hands were shaking. Did she feel bad about what she was going to do? Whisper bit her lip. Of course not, why would she? Who was Tangle to her but a source of information? Though, she thought, perhaps it might be better if he could be convinced to spare them. That stopped her hands from shaking a bit. Yes, she could ask to spare them. After all, she herself had been spared, so why not the restoration too? Calmer now, she waited for the man on the end of the line to pick up. It wasn’t long before he did. </p><p>“Whisper. Do you have anything of use to report this time?”<br/>
“Yes, Doctor Eggman.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Strange feelings</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Tangle and Whisper are both worried, but about very different things</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Doctor, the restoration intends to attack and destroy any factories actively producing badniks, and they intend to do it soon.”</p><p>Whisper’s voice was monotone and cold, forcing herself to keep any and all emotion out of her voice. For some reason she couldn’t explain, she felt particularly tense right now. But why? This wasn’t the first time she was giving Eggman information about the restoration, and it wouldn’t be the last. Was it because Tangle had been so nice to her today?<br/>
<em>“Wow, Whisper,”</em> a voice inside her head mocked. <em>“Is one piece of free cake all it takes to win you over? How pathetic.”</em> Ugh. She forced her body to become less tense, less stiff. So the lemur was kind. That didn’t change the fact that she and her friends were the enemy, and that they needed to be stopped somehow.</p><p>
  <em></em>
</p><p>“Very well, Whisper. I’ll make sure to put some extra defences in and around the factories. Any more information?”<br/>
“Nothing of importance, but, Doctor, I have a...suggestion of sorts.”<br/>
“Oh? And what might that be?”<br/>
“Well,” Whisper took a deep breath before continuing. “I was just thinking that the restoration members don’t have to die?”<br/>
“You aren’t becoming friends with those little pests, are you?” Eggman growled softly, his voice carrying a dangerous tone.<br/>
“Of course not, Sir. They should still be stopped, of course, but as I’ve been observing, and gathering information, I’ve seen and heard of their many skills and powers. I...I think they would be more useful to you alive, working for the empire.”<br/>
“Of course n-” Eggman began to dismiss the idea, but paused to think for a split second. Whisper had only been working for him for a few months, and it seemed as though her loyalty was slipping a little. Perhaps...perhaps it would work in his favour to present himself as an understanding, fair, listening boss in this scenario. Not to mention, it could be a lot easier to convince her to perform tasks that she didn’t think involved murder. Hell, why stop there? If he played his cards right, she would never even have to know that anyone was intentionally killed at all. Accidents happen, right? The teen wouldn’t have to know a thing.<br/>
“-we can. Wonderful thinking, Whisper. And even better, if we get those so called ‘heroes’ on our side, all those citizens who idolize them might even be pushed to join us too. A brilliant idea indeed.”<br/>
“Thank you doctor. I’m glad you think so highly of my suggestion.”<br/>
“Of course. I’m always willing to hear your ideas, Whisper.”<br/>
“I’m glad you are, sir.”<br/>
“Anytime. It’s getting late, how about you return to your quarters and get some rest?”<br/>
“Right away, sir.”</p><p>
  <em></em>
</p><p>On the other end of the phone, a mad scientist grinned with pleasure. Lying was so easy.</p><p>
  <em></em>
</p><p>Meanwhile, in a flat above a mineral museum that couldn’t be further from the evil doctor, two best friends sat, eating their tea. Tangle the lemur, and her roommate/closest friend Jewel the beetle, were enjoying a nice plate of pasta, as a cool evening breeze drifted in through the open window. Jewel was enjoying the food, but she just couldn’t help but notice that was quiet.<br/>
….Tangle was never this quiet. Never.<br/>
“What’s wrong?” Jewel asked gently, giving her friend a concerned look. “Did something happen? Oh no! I didn’t make you do too much heavy lifting earlier, did I!? I-I’m sorry, I-”<br/>
“No, it’s not that,” Tangle sighed, cutting the beetle’s anxious outburst off. “I’m just super worried about Whisper…”<br/>
“Oh, you mean that nice girl you’ve been spending a lot of time with?” Jewel asked inquisitively.<br/>
“Yeah,” Tangle prodded her food with her fork absentmindedly. She was too focused on thinking to feel hungry right now. “I get the feeling there’s something bad happening to her, and she’s not telling me about it.”<br/>
“How so?”<br/>
“Well,” Tangle began. “She never talks about herself much, which, you know, isn’t worrisome on its own, but there’s also the fact that she sometimes gets really quiet and sad looking at random times, and that she’ll never let me go to her hometown. In fact, I don’t even think I know what it’s called! But, earlier today, she said Spiral hill is a lot ‘nicer’ and ‘more chilled out’, and I-” Tangle took a shaky breath. She hadn’t realised how much she’d raised her voice. “-I worry about what happens to her when she goes home.”</p><p>
  <em></em>
</p><p>Jewel patiently listened to what her best friend had to say. Though Jewel was not very close to Whisper, having only met her on one occasion, it was clear to her that Tangle was very close to the wolf, and that Whisper meant a lot to Tangle. “Have you tried talking to her about it?” Jewel inquired, trying to get the best possible feel for the situation.<br/>
“No, because I’m scared it might be a touchy subject. I don’t want to make her talk about something if it makes her feel uncomfortable, or if she isn’t ready to talk about it.”<br/>
“Well,” Jewel spoke gently, hoping to help aid her troubled roommate, “maybe bring it up when you feel the time is right. And if she isn’t ready to open up yet, then don’t be too pushy about it.”<br/>
“You’re right,” Tangle smiled softly, grateful for Jewel’s input. “I nearly said something today, but she seemed so relaxed and happy, so I didn’t want to suddenly spoil her mood. was that wrong of me?”<br/>
“I can’t exactly say if that was right or wrong of you, but what I do know is that you’re being very mindful of her,” Jewel took a sip from the glass of water she had in front of her. “Which is good, but if you feel like she’s in trouble, and if she’s willing to open up, then I think you should talk about it.”<br/>
“...Can I just tell you that I really appreciate your advice wherever you give it? Sometimes I don’t know where I’d be without you!” Tangle perked up again, feeling better now.<br/>
“Of course!” Jewel beamed at Tangle. “I can tell you care about Whisper a lot, and I want to help you two out in any way I can!”<br/>
“Thanks! Maybe soon, all three of us can hang out, as a trio! Would you be up for that?”<br/>
“Only if you’re ok with me being there for your dates,” Jewel teased. </p><p>
  <em></em>
</p><p>“Dates!? No, no, we’re not a couple!” Tangle protested defensively, waving her hands in protest.<br/>
“Oh suuuure, which is why you two always spend so much time together, without anyone else being there~” Jewel laughed playfully.<br/>
“Whisper’s just an introvert!” Tangle stated, folding her arms. “Nosy.” The lemur stuck her tongue out at Jewel, playing along with the lighthearted nature of the teasing. Both of them laughed after that, before shifting the conversation onto less interesting things, like new issues of comic books, and a newly discovered cave, filled to the brim with rare gemstones as they finished their meal. </p><p>
  <em></em>
</p><p>As Tangle did the washing up (it was her turn this evening), Jewel sat on the sofa, deep in thought. She had only been half teasing when she joked about Tangle and Whisper having a thing for each other. At the very least, Tangle had some kind of feelings beyond friendship for the girl, Jewel had known Tangle for long enough to recognise that. But beyond those thoughts, Jewel was thinking about Tangle’s concerns. It was true, there was something strange about the wolf. Her mind flashed back to their one encounter, when the Babylon Rogues had robbed her museum. Whisper had lightning fast reflexes, and strange weaponry, clearly very different to a standard wispon. </p><p>
  <em></em>
</p><p>Though it was none of her business, Jewel too couldn’t help but wonder about the mysterious wolf’s origins.</p><p>
  <em></em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>jewel is here!<br/>i always feel like jewel is kind of underrated, she's so cute and sweet!</p><p>this chapter is kind of short, the next one should be longer-</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Tension</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>We get a glimpse into what Whisper's life working for Eggman is like, and how she ended up there in the first place.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Whisper raced back to the egg quarters quickly. She felt like she’d done good today, convincing Eggman not to kill the many kids and teens that made up the restoration. For the first time in a good few months, the wolf felt satisfied with something she’d done. </p><p>She pushed a pair of metal doors open and slipped into the quarters, trying not to draw attention to herself. Glancing to her left, she briefly spotted a certain octopus, casually fiddling with his knife. Dammit. Whisper did <em>not</em> want to deal with him right now. Ok, maybe if she was quiet she could sneak past him…?<br/>“Whisper?”<br/>Apparently not. <br/>Shit. </p><p>“Not now,” Whisper continued walking down the main corridor. Mimic got up from where he had been sitting, and blocked her path. “Come on, I just want a word,” there was a dangerous tone to his voice, manipulative, misleading, a false gentleness that just didn’t quite seem right.  “No,” Whisper tried her best barge past him, but with no success. “I saw you this morning,” the octopus remarked, his voice still filled with poison, “you were putting an awfully large amount of effort into looking good for going to get information out of someone.” <br/>“I have to look the part,” Whisper stated flatly. “Not everyone can shapeshift.”<br/>“You seemed so excited today though,” Mimic looked Whisper straight in her now slightly open eyes, “I haven’t seen you that happy since the others were here. And come to think of it, I haven’t seen you look so ‘nice’ since you and Claire-”<br/>“Get out of my way,” Whisper snarled, giving Mimic a piercing glare, opening her eyes wider.<br/>“You’re so soft,” Mimic laughed quietly, “that’ll be your downfall if you don’t fix it.”<br/>“<strong>move</strong>.” Whisper managed to force her way past the octopus, storming her way down the corridor. <br/>Two pure white irises watched her go. <br/>What a lost cause.</p><p>Whisper sat down in her ‘room’, the one tiny space she could call her own, and let out a large sigh. Mimic was right, she knew that, but she didn’t have to like it. Five wisps slowly hovered towards her, and made themselves comfortable, nestling on her shoulders, or on her head. Orange rocket, or just rocket as she liked to call them, settled into her lap. Whisper stroked the top of their head gently, glad that she still had her alien companions. She did miss hearing them though. A couple of times she’d considered going back to the old Diamond Cutters base, and grabbing a mask, but something had always stopped her. She really couldn’t explain why, but she felt like Smithy wouldn’t have wanted her using his inventions for this. </p><p>Whisper glanced at a small clock. <br/>Was it really that late already? <br/>The time had flown by today, hours slipping away in the blink of an eye. Part of her was saying she should have something to eat, but if she did that, she'd probably have to deal with Mimic again, and Whisper wasn’t exactly overjoyed by that thought. The wolf got to her feet, careful not to be too sudden so it wouldn’t cause the wisps any problems, and untied her hair. Her feet slipped out of her shoes. She pulled off her clothes and put on some sleepwear. Last to go were her gloves. She took them off, and stared at her hands. Her cybernetic hands.</p><p>Very shortly after starting to work for Eggman, she’d been given them. At the time the doctor had claimed that they were merely to help her, giving her a better grip on her new wispon, but recently, Whisper had discovered something unnerving about them. A bomb was planted inside each hand. What this meant, Whisper wasn’t sure. Why would he do that? He hadn’t given any cybernetics to Mimic, Starline, Rough or Tumble. She’d asked about this issue several times, but the only answer she had was Starline telling her that it was likely that Eggman had initially planned to make the cybernetics weaponised, but decided against that for some reason. When questioning why the doctor would’ve left the remnants of weapons in, if he didn’t plan on making them active, Starline had just told her that she should trust Eggman. He knew what he was doing. </p><p>No one else would answer her about it, so she just remained confused, and a little suspicious. </p><p>With the flick of a switch, the lights went out, and Whisper settled into her bed. She couldn’t help but miss the Diamond Cutters old base at times like this. That place had seemed cozy and welcoming. The Egg quarters were so...barren and lifeless. Most things were grey or white, barely any colour anywhere. Her room was a tiny pod, the only really having a wardrobe, table and her weird bed, that was built into the wall. Sensing her discomfort, all five wisps dived under the covers and snuggled with her, their glow faintly illuminating the otherwise pitch black room. “Thanks, guys,” Whisper murmured sleepily. It had been such a long day, so many ups and downs.</p><p> ...She was so tired. <br/>Whisper fought to keep her eyes open for a second, before giving in to her drowsiness. </p><p> </p><p>“And on top of the restoration taking back so much of the world, I now have to worry about that pain-in-the-ass wolf girl!” Eggman yelled, not in an excellent mood. “She’s becoming ridiculously nosy, Mimic! I thought you told me that having her work for me would be worth my time!”<br/>Mimic sat in the Egg quarters, on call with Eggman. Despite his relaxed position, Mimic was rather tense on the inside. “In my defense, Doctor,” the octopus fought to keep any emotion out of his face, “she has proved useful so far.”<br/>“Key words being ‘so far’, Mimic!” the mad scientist spat, “she gets more disloyal and suspicious every day!” <br/>“...I don’t know about that Doctor…”<br/>“Oh, <em>really</em> now? Do you know what she asked me earlier? If the restoration could be spared! If she ends up turning traitor,” Eggman ranted. “You’ll be paying as well as her!”<br/>“Why-”<br/>“Why? Because her joining was <strong>your</strong> idea!”<br/>“Very well Doctor I’ll...I’ll see what I can do about her.”</p><p>The call ended and Mimic groaned. Curse Claire for telling Whisper to hang back, it had made his life such a mess. On the contrary to what he’d told the Doctor, Mimic had initially planned to kill Whisper along with everyone else. When he realised that wouldn’t work, Mimic had invented a lie on the spot to save his skin. That Whisper would be a greater asset alive, and that he was the one who told her to wait outside. </p><p>And Mimic had <strong>thought</strong> that tampering with the wolf’s memories would mean that she would just submit to the Eggman Empire, and that he’d never have to worry about his failed attempts to kill the Diamond Cutters again. But now that Whisper was growing attached to the restoration, and starting to ask questions…<br/>No.<br/>Mimic would live, he’d make sure of it.<br/>Manipulation was one of his specialties, he’d make sure that Eggman never discovered his lie, and that Whisper stayed as oblivious as possible. </p><p>By any means necessary.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>whisper should be coming to speed battle today, lets gooooooooo</p><p>also note, in this au, whisper has a different wispon, one that eggman made</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Undercover</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Whisper isn't too pleased with the mission she's been given</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Combat was Whisper’s specialty.<br/>She wasn’t as smart as Starline or Smithy, not as crafty as Slinger or Mimic, and didn’t have any useful powers like Claire had had, but she was useful in the field. A sniper with impeccable aim, as well as good hand to hand combat skills, and a giant alien hammer to back her up. That was what she was known as, and that was who she was. </p>
<p>The wolf lay, nestled high up on a storage shelf between boxes of broken badniks, waiting for her opponents to arrive. From up here, she could see the entire factory, and anyone who dared break in too. Though Tangle had not clued her in as to which factories the Restoration were coming for, Whisper had been going up against the Restoration long enough to know that they would likely split up into teams, and attack multiple factories at once. Badniks had been deployed in most of them, and Whisper and Metal Sonic had been sent to the bigger, more important ones, to oversee things. </p>
<p>The window shattered with the sudden noise of shattering glass. Whisper pulled her mask over her face, and used one of its many useful functions to zoom in on her opponents, and see who they were. Sonic the Hedgehog and...Tangle the Lemur.</p>
<p>Whisper’s heart missed a beat.<br/>Why did it have to be Tangle?</p>
<p>Even though she’d been given the orders to capture, not kill, after her request yesterday, she still felt reluctant in doing so to Tangle. Sonic was a mere nuisance to the Doctor’s grand plans, she could probably capture him for Eggman and not feel a thing, but Tangle? <br/>Whisper compared her own life to Tangle’s for a second, the cold, hard metallic walls of the Egg Quarters, vs the vibrant, lively Spiral Hill. She knew Tangle wouldn’t be happy in the former. </p>
<p>Hmmm…<br/>Well, if it came down to it, Whisper supposed she would just have to let Tangle get away and make it look like an acciden… what was she saying!? Tangle was a nuisance, just like Sonic! A roadblock in the Doctor’s path to glory! A very sweet, funny, charming roadblock, but a roadblock nonetheless. </p>
<p>Whisper drew her attention back to the two invaders, trying not to lose herself to her thoughts. </p>
<p>“Alright then, Sonic, let's do it to it!”<br/>“You know I don’t actually say that in real life, right? I don’t really have a catchphrase.”<br/>“Wait, really?”<br/>“Uh...yeah.”<br/>“Well if you’re not using it, then I’ll just have to take it! It’s my catchphrase now, I claim it!”</p>
<p>They were distracted and unfocused. <br/>Perfect. </p>
<p>“I’m going to stun them from here, then take them in.” Whisper murmured to her alien companions. They always seemed reluctant to help her out on these kinds of missions for some reason. </p>
<p>The wolf opened a small pouch on the cloak she always wore, and pulled out a handful of tiny, metallic diamonds, and scattered them on the floor, right before Sonic and Tangle’s feet. <br/>“What was that?” Tangle asked, hearing a quiet clinking noise as the metal diamonds collided with the floor.<br/>“Probably just some old nuts and bolts falling,” Sonic guessed. “I wouldn’t worry about it. Right now, what we need to worry about is getting to the centre of this base, to make sure that this bomb takes the whole thing with it.”</p>
<p>So they had explosives? <br/>Whisper needed to act, and fast. The doctor would not be pleased if one of his biggest badnik production factories was blown to the ground. Calling for the laser wisp, Whisper loaded it into her wispon, and…</p>
<p>“Look out!” Sonic grabbed Tangle, and dived out of the laser’s range, narrowly missing it’s blast. </p>
<p>Dammit.<br/>Dammit dammit dammit.</p>
<p>“Are you ok?” Sonic sprang to his feet, and offered his hand to Tangle. The ring-tailed lemur accepted his help and pulled herself up off of the floor.<br/>“Just fine, thanks for the save,” Tangle dusted her clothes off. “What was that? It looked like a wispon shot, but the wisps are on our side, right?”<br/>“Not necessarily…” Sonic pointed to a thick, dark blue smoke trail, rising from a large, deep dent in the ground from where they’d been shot at. “See that? Normal wisps don’t have that kind of destructive power. The only kind I’ve seen that could do something like that are ones that’ve been corrupted by Eggman in some way.” </p>
<p>There were a good five seconds of silence, where Tangle and Sonic were just staring at the mark in the floor, dumbfounded, and Whisper was holding her breath, staying so still that she might as well have been paralysed. </p>
<p>“We’re being watched…” Tangle gasped in realisation. <br/>“Quickly!” Sonic shoved the bomb into the lemur’s arms. “You take the bomb, and I’ll find whoever shot at us and hold them back.”<br/>“No way!” Tangle pushed the bomb back into Sonic’s hands. “You’re the one with super speed, remember? You go plant the bomb, and I’ll hold that no good alien corrupter off!” </p>
<p>Whisper’s heart was in her mouth. <br/>Though she’d fought in the same battles as Tangle from time to time, she really didn’t like the idea of going 1 v 1 with the lemur. Whisper internally banged her head against a wall, realising what she just thought. She couldn’t keep going soft! In fact no! She wasn’t going soft! The reason she didn’t want to fight Tangle was because it’d blow her cover. Yes, that was it. This could potentially end her usefulness as a spy if Tangle recognised her, and that's why she didn’t want to engage in a fight with the lemur. </p>
<p>Using her hover wispon, Whisper silently lowered herself to a small gap behind the back of the shelves, and ran through the small area of space. <br/>“Get back here!” An all too familiar voice called.</p>
<p>Whisper turned around to see that, much to her dismay, Tangle was following her through the small passageway. On the inside, Whisper was silently applauding the lemur, knowing that Tangle was claustrophobic, but was pushing through it to...to apprehend her! Whisper quickly shook away the praise she had for her pursuer, knowing that she needed to do something about the hero on her tail, but what? </p>
<p>An idea hit her like lightning.</p>
<p>Loading up the burst wisp, Whisper shot at the stacks upon stacks of shelves just in front of Tangle, then at one behind her. They toppled down, enclosing the lemur at all angles. Whisper risked a peek behind her, just to check that Tangle was ok. Thankfully, the lemur just seemed dazed, and had maybe hit her head, but she’d live, which was good. </p>
<p>Whisper skidded to a halt, in front of a door with a sign that read ‘employees only’. It led to a network of various tunnels that could be used as shortcuts around the factory that were all hidden, unless you knew where to look. Working for a mad scientist had its perks. </p>
<p>The wolf shot through one of the tunnels like a bullet, and popped out from a floor panel in the engine room, or as she knew it, the factory’s core. <br/>“Heh…” Sonic stood there, waiting for her, practically radiating a smug aura. “So you came, eh? Look, I appreciate the effort, but I’ve already got that bomb in place, and it's set to blow in aboooouuut…a minute and a half, with no way of stopping it. And judging by where I’m tracking her communicator to, it looks like Tangle’s already made her get away. So, all in all, I give you...about an A+ in failing magnificently.”</p>
<p>Whisper wanted to laugh. <br/>Tangle hadn’t escaped, she was just pressed up against a wall at the very edge of the factory, dazed, possibly unconscious by now. How twisted it would be for Sonic to have made that big speech, only for him to realise that he’d been the one to blow his friend up. Ohhhh, the Doctor would be so pleased with her that he might even consider not telling her off about the base being blown up! </p>
<p>But…<br/>But would <em>she</em> be pleased?</p>
<p>Tangle would die.<br/>Tangle would be dead, with no way to ever bring her back into the world again. <br/>Without warning, a scene began to play out in Whisper’s mind. </p>
<p>
  <em>”Smithy!! They got Slinger…I.. HE’S-”</em>
  <br/>
  <em>The green howler monkey could do nothing but watch, as about five of the merciless androids grabbed her teammate, her close friend, who she almost considered a brother’s head into one of the liquid filled pods that they had emerged from, and held him there.</em>
  <br/>
  <em>”THEY’RE DROWNING HIM-”</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Claire desperately kicked and struggled against the androids that held her back, but her efforts meant nothing, when the robots couldn’t feel pain. The more she struggled, the harder they squeezed her, until eventually her sobs and screams turned to nothing but desperate chokes.</em>
  <br/>
  <em>”Whisper, Mimic, if either of you two can hear us then PLEASE!” Smithy roared into his mask, whilst wrestling about 20-30 Shadow androids, his wispon lying in useless pieces on the floor. “You’re our only hoooARRGHHHH-”</em>
  <br/>
  <em>The lion’s voice became unrecognisable as he howled in pain. A Shadow android had ripped his tail clean off. He wasn’t going to be able to hold out for much longer.</em>
</p>
<p>Whisper staggered, and leant over, holding her head in her hands.<br/>Sonic was long gone, and the bomb timer informed her that she only had a minute left. </p>
<p>In that moment, everything vanished. <br/>There was no more Eggman, no more factory to protect, no more fear of whatever punishment might await her. The only thing that remained was a single string of words, louder than any other thought in her head. </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <strong>I can’t let anyone else die.</strong>
  </em>
</p>
<p>Down through the tunnels, back towards the mess of shelves the wolf ran, her feet carrying her faster than she’d ever gone before. </p>
<p>50 seconds.</p>
<p>The wolf desperately hauled the steel beams of the shelves away, doing anything she could to get to Tangle.</p>
<p>40 seconds. </p>
<p>She was pretty sure she’d torn every muscle in her body, but Whisper didn’t care. There, lying unconscious on the floor, was Tangle. Living, breathing Tangle.</p>
<p>30 seconds. </p>
<p>The wolf struggled to get a good hold on Tangle’s limp body, one that would still allow her to run.</p>
<p>20 seconds.</p>
<p>No time to use the door. Whisper called for the burst wisp, and blew a hole in the wall.</p>
<p>10 seconds. </p>
<p>She had to get out of the bomb’s range. There was no way of telling what the explosion’s range was going to be.<br/>Detonation. </p>
<p>Whisper collapsed onto the damp grass of a hillside, dropping Tangle and her wispon to stuff her hands in her ears, as a deafening explosion went off. The wolf sat, watching the smoldering flames consume any structure the factory had left. </p>
<p>She would have a lot of explaining to do, once Eggman inevitably contacted her about today’s disaster of an operation. Mind you, Eggman had a lot of explaining to do now too. Whisper had been told that Smithy, Slinger and Claire had worked for Eggman, and been killed by the Restoration, and that had lined up with the memories she could recall of them, the ones where they were all fighting foes together. The day they’d died had always been a little fuzzy in her head but that was because she hadn’t actually been there at the scene of their deaths. </p>
<p>And yet here was this memory, conflicting that. She knew those robots well, the Shadow androids. Kind of creepy looking things that always stayed locked in weird pods of gunky fluid, until Eggman needed to attack someone. </p>
<p>The memory felt real, too. <br/>It felt like those were real images she’d seen flashing on the playback screen in her old mask, the one that Smithy had made, before Eggman gave her an improved one. It had to be real, but by that logic then....Ugh! But if it was real, then why had they been killed? She knew Eggman’s punishments for failures were harsh, but never death. It benefitted him to keep those who worked for him alive, so why would he have killed them? </p>
<p>A shadow of doubt fell over Whisper, suddenly feeling untrusting of her memories of the earlier days of the war, that had always been a bit foggy. Whenever the wolf had asked someone why she could never remember those times clearly, the response had always been that she’d gotten into an accident that messed up her head a little, but she was a bit suspicious of that now. </p>
<p>“Ughhhh…”<br/>Whisper immediately whipped her head downwards to see Tangle’s eyes had opened a fraction. </p>
<p>Shit.<br/>The lemur was waking up. <br/>Without a moment’s hesitation, Whisper dashed off, heading in the direction of the Egg Quarters. </p>
<p>“Ah, no, wait, come back!” Tangle outstretched her hand, but Whisper didn’t look back, she kept on running. <br/>“I saw you! Before the bomb went off! You rescued me!”</p>
<p>Oh for Gia’s sake.<br/>So Tangle had just been really out of it, not fully unconscious back in the factory then? <br/>Whisper gulped and picked up the pace even more. The only reassuring thought that she could hold on to was that her mask hid her face, and that the dark factory lighting had made it so that Tangle had been unable to clearly make out any of her other features. </p>
<p>The lemur cupped her hands around her mouth as Whisper got even further away, shouting loudly to make sure she was heard. <br/>“Thank you!” </p>
<p>A small, warm glow of satisfaction lit up inside Whisper, and she felt her heart swell. <br/>A thank you. A genuine thank you. And it was from Tangle too. Whisper couldn’t understand why, but the fact that the first genuine congratulations on a job well done came from Tangle made it ten times better. </p>
<p>That feeling quickly turned to a cold dread as she wondered how she was going to explain this to her boss though.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Guardian Angel</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Tangle and Whisper prepare for the weekend</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"I am so, so, sorry," Sonic apologized miserably, beyond himself with guilt. Tangle had told him not to worry about the fiasco back in the factory, where Sonic had accidentally nearly blown the lemur to smithereens, but it was impossible not to feel shitty about leaving the lemur to die, albeit unintentionally. </p>
<p>"Sonic, if you apologise one more time, I might have to diagnose you with chronic apology syndrome," Tangle patted the hedgehog on the shoulder, as they sat together on high stacks of wooden crates, safe and warm inside the Restoration’s base. "You made a genuine mistake, it's not your fault the tracker told you I was outside the base."</p>
<p>"I guess you're right," Sonic reluctantly agreed, flashing his friend a weak grin. "So are you going to explain your daring escape or what? I can picture it now! Just when all seems lost, the quick minded hero uses her tail to make an incredible escape!"</p>
<p>"Actually," Tangle laughed awkwardly. "Someone else got me out of there, I was practically unconscious." Upon seeing Sonic's puzzled look, Tangle clarified further. "I was nearly crushed by the steel beams of the shelf, and I was lying there, thinking 'Oh Chaos, this is it, this is how I go', you know? And then it happened. I saw them. This figure, with long, flowing hair, all tied back, and a cape, lifting those heavy shelves like they were nothing, before picking me up, and getting me out of there. Once it was all over, they ran off. I hope they heard my 'thank you'."</p>
<p>"Shit, Tangle, how many bomb fumes did you inhale?" Sonic teased. "That sounds like something right out of a comic book!" </p>
<p>"Hey, it's true, I swear!" Tangle protested. Her saviour had been real, she knew it, there was no way in hell she'd have managed to get out of the base on her own, with a mountain of metal crushing her ribs, and a horrifically wet patch on the back on her head, which had later been revealed to be a head wound. </p>
<p>"Well, sounds like you've got yourself a guardian angel then!" Sonic concluded. Though his tone was light, there was a genuine sense of curiosity behind it. Just who had dived into the perilous situation to rescue Tangle? The only other person in the base had been that Eggman Empire soldier, but even though Sonic hadn't gotten a good look at what they looked like, he decided it couldn't have been them. That wouldn't make any sense, would it? <br/>"How's your head by the way?" </p>
<p>"Sore…" Tangle was smiling, but her voice gave away the fact that she was still in quite a bit of pain. "Amy said I'm dismissed from any Restoration tasks for three days, so we can make sure that I'm fully healed." </p>
<p>"Man, that sucks," Sonic sighed sympathetically. "But it's important to make sure you look after yourself, or you might end up making yourself worse. Got any plans for your mini-holdiay, or are you just chilling at home?" </p>
<p>"You can never not give PSAs, can you?" Tangle laughed. "But yeah, I wanna get out and about during those three days, because Gods, even though I love Jewel dearly, she's going to be so strict if I'm at home! No fun allowed, I bet!" <br/>The ring tailed lemur leaned back where she was sitting a bit. <br/>"Maybe I'll hang out with Whisper some more, I think she'd like that." </p>
<p>"Who's Whisper?" Sonic inquired. "I've heard you mention her a few times now, but I don't know anything about her. She a friend of yours?" </p>
<p>"O-Oh yeah," Tangle tried to ignore the fact that she could feel her checks growing redder. "She's a really good friend of mine, super cool too. Apparently she's part of a small group that are helping wisps recover from the aftermath of the war. Awesome, huh?" </p>
<p>"Never heard of that group, but yeah, that does sound cool," Sonic said thoughtfully, finding it strange that he'd never heard about anyone like that. Surely a group helping the aliens recover would want to work closely with the Restoration, what with them having similar goals and all? Nevertheless, Sonic didn't think too hard about it, acknowledging that there are people who prefer to work alone, or in a small group. "You should tell her about today, and those corrupted wispon shots we saw. Seems like the Eggman Empire still has some wisps enslaved." </p>
<p>"Ohhhh, good idea!!" Tangle agreed. Whisper would definitely want to hear about that. Maybe they could even go on a mission to recover all the remaining captured wisps together, once Tangle had healed. That could be fun. She pulled out her phone, and opened her contacts.</p>
<p>
  <strong>'hey, want to hang out tomorrow?? i'm excused from the restoration for a few days, so….same cafe as last time? food's on me!!! oh and how would you feel about a sleepover????? i think it’d be hella fun : )’ </strong>
</p>
<p>On the other end of the phone, a ping echoed around a quiet room.</p>
<p>"What was that?" Mimic growled, hearing a ringtone go off. The octopus sat, lounging in a chair in what could probably be described as the canteen of the Egg Quarters, if it weren't for the fact that you were just given boxes of random foods, and were expected to just be able to put something together yourself. </p>
<p>Whisper pulled her phone from her back pocket, and checked the notifications, seeing a text from Tangle, inviting her to hang out, potentially for more than one day. <br/>"Just another spying opportunity." </p>
<p>"You're getting pretty bold if you think your girlfriend can save your ass from Eggman's wrath," Mimic noted, passive aggressive. They'd lost a big factory today, and trying to keep Eggman from punishing him for bringing Whisper into the Empire was getting more and more frustrating as the days went by. "What's he going to say when he learns you hauled her sorry tail out of there, instead of leaving her to explode?" </p>
<p>"Tangle is a valuable source of information!" Whisper hissed, struggling to keep her voice emotionless. "We can't lose such a precious resource! And she’s not my girlfriend!" </p>
<p>"There are others," Mimic retorted. "Plenty of others we can get information out of. One of their lives is meaningless in the grand scheme of things. You shouldn’t have spared her.”</p>
<p>“Eggman said I could try and get the Restoration on our side, spare them, just like you did with me!” Whisper argued, rapidly losing control of herself. “So what if I let Tangle live?!”</p>
<p>“You didn’t just let her live, you let her go free!” Mimic scolded, regretting not just strangling Whisper when he’d had the chance more and more. Why was she becoming so rebellious lately? Hadn’t Eggman knocked that all out of her when he messed with the wolf’s brain? Maybe she was due another round of brain surgery, to keep her in check, Mimic decided silently. Perhaps the effects of the last dose of meddling were simply wearing off. <br/>“You should’ve at least captured her!”</p>
<p>Whisper didn’t reply, knowing Mimic was right. She could’ve captured Tangle, she’d had the perfect opportunity, and yet it had never crossed her mind in the moment. Why hadn’t she thought of that? Though...would Tangle have been happy with that? She didn’t want to make the lemur mad, even if she was a filthy Restoration fighter. She had a heart of gold, that Whisper couldn’t bear the thought of breaking. <br/>“You’re right,” Whisper muttered coldly. “I’ll do better next time.” <br/>The last two words felt dry and bitter in her mouth, seeing as Whisper didn’t agree with them. Making Tangle upset wasn’t ‘doing better’. <br/>Over the past few months, Whisper had come to realise that Tangle was really the only person she was close to. The Diamond Cutters were dead, except for Mimic, who Whisper usually just argued with nowadays. The octopus had become so horrible to her, ever since the other Diamond Cutters died. Whisper knew all too well that grief could do some nasty things to people sometimes, but everyday she found herself wondering if Mimic had secretly been an asshole all along, and that the others had been keeping him at bay. Just another thing that didn’t make sense in her muddled mind. </p>
<p>"I got this weird flashback back in the base," Whisper confessed, remembering the weird images that'd raced through her head. "The other Cutters, being killed by Shadow Androids."</p>
<p>Mimic stiffened slightly, but not too noticeably. <br/>"Sounds like a pretty bad nightmare…"<br/>"It wasn't a nightmare!" Whisper growled impatiently. "I was wide awake!"<br/>The fact that the octopus was so dismissive of what she saw was suspicious to Whisper. What did Mimic know that the wolf didn't?</p>
<p>"Maybe you were remembering a nightmare you had," Mimic's voice was cold, his mind racing. The doctor's control on the wolf was definitely slipping, he had to do something to save his skin. </p>
<p>"Whatever…" Whisper shoved her chair away, and stormed off towards her sleeping chamber. "If you're not going to say anything useful, then I'm just going to leave." </p>
<p>Mimic yawned, staring at the discarded chair Whisper had left out. <br/>What a drama queen.<br/>The octopus stretched his mouth open wider, expressing his tiredness, wondering how babysitting an angsty teenager became his job.</p>
<p>The octopus pushed a button, allowing him to contact Eggman, unbeknownst to Whisper, who sat alone in her room.</p>
<p>"Gaia, he's such a heartless bastard," Whisper complained to her alien friends, as they nestled in her lap, glowing dimly. <br/>"Makes me wonder why the others ever used to want him around." </p>
<p>She petted the cube wisp gently, feeling it begin to shake as the wolf talked about their former master. <br/>"Well I don't care what he says anyway," Whisper stated, as though her saying that would be comforting to the wisps. "Eggman gave me the go ahead for meeting Tangle tomorrow, and he's the boss, so Mimic can suck it."</p>
<p>Rocket ascended out of her lap, and pulled at her hand, nearly taking her glove off. <br/>"What? What is it?"<br/>Rocket kept pulling, and pointed at the door.<br/>"You want to come too?" <br/>A tiny noise of agreement.</p>
<p>Whisper laughed, already imagining how much Tangle was going to love meeting the tiny, colourful alien. The other wisps looked up at her with a sea of bright puppy-dog eyes, begging to come too.<br/>"<em>All</em> of you?" Whisper asked, faking shock. "Oh, I don't know, that sounds like too many…"<br/>In response to her teasing, the Wisps all gently pushed her over, backwards onto her bed, pretending to be angry, but not truly so. The anticipation of tomorrow’s meeting swelled in her chest, Whisper finding herself unable to hold back from the excitement. What a day it was going to be! Lovely food and fun times. She was looking forward to feeling happy incredibly badly. Her dull life in the Empire had become so lonely when Claire, Slinger and Smithy died, just the same repetitive solo missions day in day out. The warm summer days spent with Tangle were really the only highlights of her life right now, a gentle breeze washing over them as they wandered down the bustling streets of smiling faces that Spiral Hill was composed of. </p>
<p>She didn’t understand Eggman’s need to control places like that, they got on fine without him. Why was she working for him again? Revenge, she supposed. Those fighting against him were the ones who had killed her friends after all. Or had they? She couldn’t stop thinking about those Shadow Androids. It must’ve been a dream, surely, some crazy nightmare, but she knew that wasn’t right. You couldn’t just have a nightmare when you were wide awake, that wasn’t how that worked. Maybe the Restoration had programmed the androids to attack her friends? But then why would Mimic dismiss the androids all together?</p>
<p>Tired, confused, and more annoyed than anything else, Whisper went to sleep.</p>
<p>In another room, Mimic was doing the opposite of sleeping. The weary octopus was instead having an intense conversation with Eggman. It was a dangerous game, bargaining with the mad doctor. You could never quite be sure what was going to happen. <br/>“Whisper will need the cybernetics in her head refreshing again, Doctor.” Mimic began. “She’s started remembering things that she shouldn’t.”<br/>“Oh?” Eggman replied, unmistakably passive aggressive. “Do you have any idea how busy I am right now, Mimic? How little time Starline and I have?” <br/>“I know, Doctor, but-” Mimic forced himself to remain relaxed. “I had an idea that I think will make it worth your time.” <br/>“I’m listening, Mimic. But it had better be worth my time.”<br/>“I was thinking of a way we could prepare for the worst case scenario,” Mimic explained, every inch of his body on edge. “Which is of course that Whisper runs off to the Restoration. So, here’s an idea. We implant more explosive cybernetics inside her and don’t say a word - if she tries anything, we’re blowing her and the Restoration straight to hell.” <br/>“So she becomes both a spy <em>and</em> a living weapon?” Eggman paused, leaving the room devoid of sound, minus a faint electric crackle from over the phone line. “I like that. But I can’t get it done before she sets off tomorrow - how do I know she won’t try anything then?”<br/>“Oh, don’t you worry Doctor. I’ll make sure she doesn’t.” <br/>“Excellent! Because I’d hate to have to dispose of a good assassin like you.”<br/>And Mimic was true to his words. He lurked in the shadows as Whisper was readying to leave, rolling his eyes as he watched her. Even if the wolf denied it, it was clear to see just how infatuated she was with that damn lemur girl. She’d gotten up early to have a wash (hogging the bathroom for so long that Mimic eventually just decided to wait until she left to use it), done up her hair nicer than it was ever usually done, and picked out all her nicest clothes. She looked so cheerful too, strolling through the corridor in such a lighthearted manor, change clinking in her pocket, which Mimic had no doubt she was going to be buying a present with. </p>
<p>Mimic couldn’t waste any more time; out of nowhere he pinned Whisper to the wall, his knife pressed against her throat. <br/>“What the fuck are you-” The wolf barely got a chance to speak. <br/>"I don't think you realise the repercussions of what you're doing," Mimic hissed. "If you mess this up both of us are going to pay heavily, so you better keep your paws out of that girl's personal life and just focus on getting every last drop of information out of her, you understand?" <br/>Whisper tried her best not to flinch under Mimic's sharp gaze, and instead just focused her efforts on staying as still as possible so that Mimic's blade wouldn't scratch her throat.<br/>"I can't spy if you you don't let me go-" </p>
<p>Mimic slowly lowered his knife and stepped aside so that Whisper could continue walking. Her pace quickened, as did her heartbeat, adrenaline pumping through her veins. She didn't look back as she hurried out the exit, the wisps watching her back with prying eyes. </p>
<p>It might've been her home, but she couldn't wait to get out of there.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>hooooo boy! chapter one is done! i have no idea what people are going to think of this, but here it is anyways! as i said before, this au is based on some predictions i made when tangle and whisper issue 0 came out. yes, i thought that whisper was shooting at the real sonic in the previews. that being said, i modified this story to contain more story elements from the actual events of tangle and whisper.</p><p>also im really excited about tangle and whisper being in sonic dash and forces: speed battle! I cant wait to play as them!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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